Alix’s birthday…the day I met Alix was at Doris’s 40th Birthday Party…if I remember correctly, it was her party on the boat from Annapolis down the Potomac River to DC…catered by her catering company she had founded, Bittersweet in Arlington, Virginia…most of us went back to Bruce and Bernice’s house…while talking there, we discovered she was one day older than me…love that…she was Jay’s “sister”…although they were not related, they had a sister in common…Franci…Jay’s father was married to Franci and Alix’s mother…they divorced and Franci and Alix’s mother married Serge and had Alix…while Jay’s mother married Jay’s father and had Jay, and his brother and sister…they weren’t related but they grew up as “sibling”…Alix has been all over the place…she lived in DC, of course, she lived in Florida…in Brooklyn, then Manhattan, then New Mexico where Jay ended up… and now lives in Maine…where she ended up…Happy Birthday Alix…it was a rainy day today…only started raining this evening…after I had gotten back from home from picking up my car…it got inspected this morning…I left it there last night…Julia followed me and brought me home…he called me this morning at around 11:00 to tell me it was ready and nothing was wrong with it…music to my ears…since I bought it…I took a walk trying to get my miles in…ended up I walked 3.4 miles today all tolled…first my walk to pick up my car…my usual walk to and from Creekside…not open today, never open of Monday…actually, “downtown” Elkins Park is closed on Monday…walked around Elkins Park train Station 10 times to make up for the walk home from the car place…went to the Giant to get some Marzetti’s Cole Slaw dressing…Doris introduced me to that…it’s just great for making your own cole slaw…for Friday’s dinner when my sister’s family comes from my birthday celebration, making crab cakes for dinner…Acme had lump crab on sale…half price…works for me…then home…that’s when it started to rain…I was joining Pam and Julia and Henry to see the Oscar Nominated Shorts – Animation…I saw them before, but wanted to see them again…drove there…and ate a little bit of salad, Julia has made Green Goddess dressing…a delicious bit of salad…when we came out of the Hiway…it had snowed…and was slushy…not great for an almost 80 years old…I had driven us to the Hiway…we determined Pam would drive me home and bring me my car tomorrow…Julia could use it to go to her Doctor’s appointment…I don’t go anywhere before 1:00 ever these days…I feel sorry for the crocus and the daffodils coming up…they think it’s Spring…I wonder if it will shock them…it didn’t snow anymore than last night…and probably already melted…so I got home with the cherry pie I bought at the kosher baker…kind of my birthday cake…thinking I would bring it to Pam’s…she’s making me dinner…chicken pot pie…I love her chicken pot pie…inviting Elissa to “celebrate”…she is usually with her Aunt Lois…we have the same birthdate…Aunt Lois is 10 years older than me…Aunt Lois is being taken out for dinner and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof for her birthday by her kids, Andi and Todd…she’s also having a party on March 12…Happy Birthday to all February 28 birthday people… Melissa…Wendy…Jolene…Benjamin…for four…as usual, I fell asleep on the sofa after having eaten the egg salad left over from Pam’s party…I ate it on the croissant rolls I bought at Aldi’s…I was intrigued…as I was leaving the Giant with my Marzetti’s, a man was at self-checkout, with a croissant pizza in his basket…I asked him if was good…he didn’t know…he was buying it because he was intrigued…but good to know there’s is such a thing as croissant pizza…crisp and buttery layers of pizza?…maybe…I guess all the rest of the walking I did added up to 3.4 miles…walking around the Giant, to and from the bank…walking to and from the Hiway…works for me…well, happy birthday to me tomorrow…( today )…and again Happy Birthday Alix, the last Monday in February…XXOO…maybe it was Doris’ 30th?…
happy that Dominion is hitting Murdoch and Fox “News” right where it hurts…their pocketbook… Rupert under oath admitting they were spreading trump’s lie…
Matt Sclhapp, trump advocate and conservative involved with CPAC, accused of “fondling” former staffer…he, of course, denies it through his lawyer…Schapp’s wife was in trump’s employ at the White House…it seems it was an man who accused Schlapp…and GOP is fleeing CPAC…Conservative Political Action Conference…
my daughter Pam is 55 today…she was almost my 25th birthday present…and I’m glad, in retrospect, that she has her own birthday…she was born around 4:31 on a Monday ( Monday’s Child is Fair of Face )…my Mom always told me I was born around noon, but I found my birth certificate I had ordered a while ago from Colorado…it says I was born at 4:15…and Sandy recently found Ben’s birth announcement…he was born at 4:41…it seems we like the late afternoon to be born…Pam was born at University of Pennsylvania Hospital…I was there late into the evening…Mother and Child resting…I proceeded to drive home…to Chestnut Hill Village…I was in the turn left lane by 30th Street Station to go onto the Expressway…and ran out of gas…I called 3A’s…the police pushed my car around the corner…not to be found by 3A’s until hours later…I didn’t get home until 8:30…my introduction to fatherhood…and responsibility…Pam was my ticket to not go into the Army…during the Vietnam War…when I moved to Philadelphia on September 28, 1966, I notified my draft board that I had moved…in December they scheduled my physical for early January 1967…but then it was cancelled, Pennsylvania had run out of money to give physicals…it was re-scheduled March or April… meanwhile, Nancy and I went to Bermuda on vacation…we found out Nancy was pregnant before we went…it seemed that the letter to the draft board that I was going to be a father ( they were still giving exemptions for fatherhood then ) and the letter from the draft board after my physical probably reached San Francisco at the same time…so Pam was my saving grace…the first time…because she has been my saving grace ever since…like all Pisces in my family…we are painfully shy…Pam was not an exception…one day, at Murray’s Deli in Baederwood ( not there anymore ), Nancy was heard to tell Pam if she wanted a bagel she would have to order it herself…Pam was around 11 or 12…Nancy forced Pam to order her bagel…she is now a confident woman…as was Julia…painfully shy as a child…she wouldn’t talk to anyone but her immediate family…she wouldn’t talk to Susan, Pam’s best friend…for years…she wouldn’t talk to Doris, Nancy’s best friend…for the longest time…now, she too is a confident woman…at Pam’s celebration today, one exercise was to give an adjective describing Pam…Confident was one…Maddy shouted out Badass…is that a adjective or an noun?…doesn’t matter…other adjectives – Inquisitive…Thoughtful… Sexy…Selfless…Fun…all that and more…I have leaned on her since Nancy died…she is my most trusted Consigliere…not in the mafia sense, hahaha, but in the counsel sense…her advise is invaluable…in her kitchen is a framed sampler “I’m glad that you’re my Mom.”…and I say “I’m glad that you’re my daughter”…she is a great mother…she is a good friend…I’m so proud of her…all who meet her tell me how lovely she is…as they do with Julia also… like mother, like daughter…two confident women making their way in the world…I went there for dinner, we ordered a square pizza from Trios…I had gotten up early this morning, to be at Mickey’s graveside funeral…11:00…I was a little late, got lost on the way…but was there in time…a reception was held at Rydal Park…when Susie’s sister lives…and like myself, Lee’s hoagies were Mickey’s favorite…they had Italian hoagies among other things…I had driven Jill to the reception, she had taken a cab there…we spent the better time of 2 hours there…I had decided to drive her home with a stop at Pam’s as her party was breaking up…Jill had a piece of her ice cream cake…my kids don’t know those older cousins on Nancy’s father’s side…Jill grew up on Fairview Road…long before we lived on Fairview Road…she had gone to Cheltenham High School when it was situated where High School Park is located…that school burned down, after they built the new school on Rices Mill Road… I think Mickey was the last graduating class of the old school…I drove Jill back home and then I went to the Art Museum for about 45 minutes…to finish my 2 mile walk for the day…ending up walking 2.4 miles today…I went to see the galleries I had not been to since the renovation…way on the other side of the great hall staircase…enough time to see what was going on there…the furniture…the Thomas Eakins section…our glass and silver collection…and fireplace and doorway of Wharton H. Esherick… moved, but not far from where it was before the renovation…it was like an old friend I was visiting once again…I came home, wrapped Pam’s birthday present and went over there…for a few of the tea sandwiches…and a vodka gimlet…and then, of course pizza and watch the beginning of the SAG Awards…actors giving actors awards for acting…streaming on Netflix…not on regular TV…no commercials…Sally Field was given a Life-Time Achievement Award…and Brendan Fraser won for The Whale, a riveting performance showing his soul…”And the actor goes to: ( winners are in bold type )
MOVIES
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Babylon The Banshees of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All at Once The Fabelmans Women Talking
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett (Tár) Viola Davis (The Woman King) Ana de Armas (Blonde) Danielle Deadwyler (Till) Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Austin Butler (Elvis) Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin) Brendan Fraser (The Whale) Bill Nighy (Living) Adam Sandler (Hustle)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) Hong Chau (The Whale) Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once) Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Paul Dano (The Fabelmans) Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Avatar: The Way of Water The Batman Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Top Gun: Maverick The Woman King
TELEVISION
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Better Call Saul The Crown Ozark Severance The White Lotus
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus) Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown) Julia Garner (Ozark) Laura Linney (Ozark) Zendaya (Euphoria)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul) Jason Bateman (Ozark) Jeff Bridges (The Old Man) Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) Adam Scott (Severance)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary Barry The Bear Hacks Only Murders in the Building
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate (Dead to Me) Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) Jean Smart (Hacks)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Carrigan (Barry) Bill Hader (Barry) Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building) Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building) Jeremy Allen White (The Bear)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Steve Carell (The Patient) Taron Edgerton (Black Bird) Sam Elliott (1883) Paul Walter Houser (Black Bird) Evan Peters (Dahmer)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Emily Blunt (The English) Jessica Chastain (George and Tammy) Julia Garner (Inventing Anna) Niecy Nash-Betts (Dahmer) Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
Andor The Boys House of the Dragon The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Stranger Things
it was a great show, especially without commercials…I missed a few awards. took my car to drop off for inspection…due by the end of February…Julia drove me the rest of the way home…I caught another mouse, actually was caught but hurt…but it got away…I kept thinking it was dying, smeared blood on my floor…sorry for the description…but it got away…behind the washer/dryer…
oh, by the way, Steve Wynn received an honorary doctorate degree from the The University of Pennsylvania in 2006, it was rescinded following Wynn’s sexual misconduct allegations in 2018…easy come, easy go…
I also sorted my pills for the next three weeks…three weeks goes by fairly quickly…
Pam’s birthday is officially done, the third in my family of Pisces…next up is mine, on Tuesday…80…I just can’t wrap my head around 80…but anyway…the bridge of February 27 is filled with Alix’s birthday…she is one day older than me…Happy Birthday Alix…and many more…Ray and Janae will be here Thursday…Candy and Sidney will be here Friday…making crab cakes for dinner Friday…we go to New York for the day on Saturday…going to see a show…then Ben will be coming home for my party Sunday…looking forward to this whole week…Pisces rule…
the second of the Pisces birthdays in my family…my sister is 72…but I still think of her as 10…when I left home for college, she froze in my mind…and it seems like yesterday she turned 70…now it’s 2 years later…she coming in for my 80th party on Friday…she was born in San Francisco…she and my brother Phillip are true San Franciscans…born at St Luke’s Hospital in the Mission District…from a little local hospital near Sears on Mission and Army Street ( now called Cesar Chavez Street )…it’s now called California Pacific Medical Center-St. Luke’s Campus…times have changed…we lived on Bennington Street…and I remember when she came home from the hospital…she had long finger nails…and had scratched her nose and forehead…I don’t know why I remember that but I do…I can picture her in my mind…I was almost 8…my 8th birthday 3 days later…it was shortly thereafter that we moved from Bennington to Massasoit Street on Bernal Heights…the house I think of as my growing up house…I have so many memories of Cortland Street, the main street in our neighborhood…we had our Church…St. Kevin’s…where we went to catechism classes through a side door on Ellsworth street…”who made me?…God made me.” I remember my Mom went to ask the priest if it was okay for her to have a hysterectomy…after my sister was born…the priest’s name was Father Mantasty…something like that…don’t ask me why I know this…but I do…we had our bank… The Bank of America…I think it’s still there…we had our Library, it’s still there…my Dad took me to get Pearl Buck’s book The Good Earth there…the Library itself is really small, but back then seemed huge…our Movie Theater…I think it was called the Cortland…I was there every Saturday…I remember seeing The Boy With the Green Hair there…Dean Stockwell was the boy Peter, a war orphan…he was ridiculed by the townspeople for having green hair…talk to all the shocking pink, orange, red and blue and green haired people walking around today…I guess in 1948 green hair was shocking…and I guess it was at least in the movie…also starring Pat O’Brien, Robert Ryan and Barbara Hale who turned out to be Della Street, Perry Mason’s secretary not that many years later…and our grocery store…everything we needed…it seemed big back then but in reality, not so big…but a grocery store is still there…my older brother Cliff lifted a twenty dollar bill from the cash register…we went to the movies and across the street for a burger with stale potato chips…perhaps because it was raining like mad that day…Cortland was almost like a river…it was raining so hard…eventually he was found out…my parents had to pay the money back…in 1948 $20 bucks was like a hundred dollars today…he shared the spoils with me…but none of the blame…our school was a couple of blocks away across Holly Park Circle…the park seemed huge back then…not so much…Junipero Serra Elementary School…it was Victorian…but burned down after we moved…I went through 3rd grade there…I remember kindergarten, Mrs. O’Connor…a red head…I was much too young to go to Kindergarten…in first grade my teacher made me put the gum I was chewing on my nose…I think that’s when my personality split…hahahahaha…it was the only thing I remember about first grade…I don’t remember the teacher’s name but can picture her in my mind…don’t remember anything about second grade… nothing…nothing…Mrs. Sullivan was my third grade teacher…she was my favorite teacher…she cried when I told her we were moving…I remember making paper flowers for the May Pole and May Day…May 1…all my memories of Cortland Avenue and my sister’s birth are all tied to Bennington and Cortland Avenue…we moved when I was 8…that shy kid who didn’t sit straight in his desk…mostly sitting sideways…at LeConte Elementary on Precita…they called my Mom to the office to “tell” on me…really rebellious, right?///and the Precita Park…which, to me was huge…long and narrow, LeConte on one end and St Anthony’s on the other…where I went from 6th grade on…we were a “dynasty” at St. Anthony’s…with the five of us there in the 50s…I send my sister birthday wishes at around 2:30 am this morning…I wanted to be the first to wish her Happy Birthday…but it was her birthday here on the East Coast, not in California, not for another half hour…in celebration I went to see Cat On A Hot Tin Roof again with Elissa, guests of Carol and Rafe…I must have fallen asleep the first time I saw it, because I saw scenes I had not remembered…a leisurely dinner at PJ Clarkes in the Curtis Building…made famous by The Saturday Evening Post and Norman Rockwell…I saw the Tiffany Mosaic for the first time this evening as we were leaving the building…a treasure…it’s so gorgeous…designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany based on a Maxwell Parrish landscape…”it took 6 months to install in 1916. The mural is 15 feet by 49 feet made up of 100,000 pieces of glass in over 260 color tones making it arguably the largest Tiffany piece in the world (though the Tiffany art glass dome located in Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural center certainly has a claim.) Dream Garden was the largest glass mural in the country until 2007 when it was surpassed by the Wing Lung Bank Mural in Alhambra, CA.”…Carol and Rafe told me that Steve Wynn of Wynn Casino and the Belllagio in Las Vegas wanted to buy it and take it to Las Vegas…he’s a big art collector…you may know…his Picasso collection and the glass blossoms of Dale Chihuly’s at the Bellagio…in 1998 Wynn wanted to buy it, there was tremendous protests by the Historical Commission of Philadelphia among others…( remember Steve Wynn was the Republican Finance Chair for about a minute…5 years ago…until he has all kinds of sexual harassment charges against him…from The Guardian by David Smith and Martin Pengelly: “Trump ally Steve Wynn out as Republican finance chair after sexual misconduct report: Casino mogul Steve Wynn has resigned as finance chair of the Republican National Committee, a day after it was reported that he faces multiple of allegations of sexual misconduct.
RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel said: “Today I accepted Steve Wynn’s resignation.”
McDaniel spoke about the Wynn controversy with Donald Trump on Saturday morning, according to a report by Politico, which first broke news of the resignation. Her 12-word statement did not address the accusations against Wynn or calls for his $2.4m donations to Republican causes over the past five years to be returned.
Wynn, who turned 76 on Saturday, is a billionaire business rival turned political ally of Trump, who selected him for the RNC role after he was vice-chair of the president’s inaugural committee.
Wynn spoke last weekend at a fundraiser held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
On Friday the Wall Street Journal detailed claims by a number of women who say they were harassed or assaulted by Wynn. One case led to a $7.5m settlement with a manicurist, the paper reported.
In response, Wynn said the allegations were part of a smear campaign related to divorce proceedings.
“The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous,” he said in a statement. “We find ourselves in a world where people can make allegations, regardless of the truth, and a person is left with the choice of weathering insulting publicity or engaging in multi-year lawsuits. It is deplorable for anyone to find themselves in this situation.”
Stocks in his company, Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts, fell sharply on Friday. Fox News said in a statement it would no longer book Wynn to appear on television.
The RNC, which aggressively criticised Democrats who took money from the now disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, was accused of hypocrisy.
from The Hunt Magazine: “Thanks to Steve Wynn, we have a price for Dream Garden as a “historic object.” In 1998 casino owner Wynn wanted to buy Dream Garden and take it home to Las Vegas, resulting in tremendous protest from the Historical Commission of Philadelphia and others. In the Philadelphia Inquirer, Stephan Salisbury wrote, “He (Wynn) told his friend, then-Mayor Ed Rendell, that Philadelphia should have what it wanted so badly.
“Rendell promptly nominated Dream Garden to become the city’s first certified “historic object.” Ultimately, after that designation and much litigation, the Pew Charitable Trusts stepped in with $3.5 million, allowing the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to acquire the mosaic.”
Now we are the lucky ones. You”ll find Dream Garden at 601 Walnut Street. Enter from Seventh between Sansom and Walnut and be dazzled.”…yes, go see this treasure…you have to see it up close, it’s luminous…it will dazzle you…as it did me on Candy’s birthday…
in conjunction with several schools in Florida, notably at Florida International University, participated in a walkout Thursday to protest Gov. DeSantis’ moves to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs from higher education…previously banning books targeting LGBTQ and Black studies…he might as well start burning books in front of the Reichstag…protesting DeSantis’ attack on education and attack on freedom of speech…and they say DeSantis is politicizing education…and how is he not?…I really don’t understand stupid Republicans thinking whatever they do is a winning strategy…like going after Social Security…like going after Medicare…like going after the LGBTQ community…like going after black and brown people…like wanting to quit helping Ukraine…like going after immigrants…when you think about it, they only white Christians…no old people…no seniors allowed…they’re Robin Hoods in reverse…robbing the poor to give to the rich…
McCarthy giving Tucker Carlson access to the 41,000 hours of Capitol surveillance, and only Carlson, drives me crazy…an assault on all of us to give this election denier and downplayer of the attack on our seat of Democracy, our Capitol…
Pence fighting Jack Smith’s subpoena, drives me crazy…his boss wanted him dead…( when he’s already dead in the head…craziness is going on in there…all the prosecutors say it’s a losing battle in the courts…a quick losing battle…
all the gun violence…the US epidemic of mass shootings…from coast to coast…from 3 in different parts of California…to Memphis…I heard about a father killing his family in January…his wife, who had filed for divorce two weeks earlier, his mother-in-law, and his five children ages 17 to 4…in Utah…a Mormon family…so sad…
a lawsuit in Texas which could ban the abortion pill, mifepristone, from the entire country…a federal judge in Texas…ruling for the entire country…and overturning a 22 year old approval of a medication by the US Food and Drug Administration…
no wonder we I need escape for our Country’s mess…ran around this afternoon getting stuff for the birthdays coming…one week from today my sister will be her…her birthday is tomorrow…going to celebrate by going to theater with Elissa as the guests of Carol and Rafe…they still have the seats I had…we shared the same seats before Covid…my Wednesday night…their Saturday night…going to see Cat On A Hot Tin Roof again…from a better viewpoint…tonight I scurried to the Ambler to see Emily…a period movie about Emily Bronte…in reading about the movie, I found out we don’t know that much about Emily Bronte…she died young…didn’t have many friends outside her family…she was shy…she was rebellious…she was an outsider…who stunned her contemporaries with her novel Wuthering Heights…published in 1847…under her pen name Ellis Bell…the novel of Heathcliff and Catherine…and the two families, the Earnshaws and the Lintons…Heathcliff and Catherine made flesh and bones by Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon…in the 1939 film…the same year of Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz…the film was directed by William Wyler…Olivier and Oberon didn’t get along…the new film Emily takes a lot of artistic license…first-time director and screenplay writer, Frances O’Connor writes a movie mostly fictionalized…because we know little of Emily Bronte…from Wikipedia: “It is a part-fictional portrait of English writer Emily Brontë ( played by Emma Mackey ), concentrating on a fictional romantic relationship with the young curate William Weightman ( played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen )…also starring Fionn Whitehead as Emily brother Branwell, Alexandra Dowling as sister Charlotte, Amelia Gething as sister Anne and Gemma Jones as Aunt Branwell…if you like period movies…you’ll like this…love the costumes, the bonnets…and the beautiful countryside… and I wonder how much is true…especially the use of opium…it’s a beautiful movie…with great performances…I’m glad I scurried…this last Friday in February…
walked a couple of miles up and down Butler Pike, looking in the windows…found a penny…enjoyed all the twinkly lights along the Pike…Ambler is pretty at night…
the hypocrisy of the Republicans and their “leader” is monumental…the previous Attorney General of Arizona, Mark Brnovich, wasted taxpayer money on baseless election fraud claims by trump and all the other Republicans like Kari Lake…and of course he is a Republican…he hid the results that no fraud was found, up until recently when the newly elected Democrat Attorney General, Kris Mayes released the report…and of course none of the Republicans involved had anything to say including Brnovich…from The New York Times by Neil Vigdor: “Ex-Attorney General in Arizona Buried Report Refuting Voter Fraud Claims: Under Mark Brnovich, a Republican who left office in January, a 10,000-hour review did not see the light of day. His Democratic successor, Kris Mayes, released investigators’ findings.: Mark Brnovich, a Republican who served as Arizona’s attorney general until January, buried the findings of a 10,000-hour review by his office that found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, newly released documents reveal.
The documents were released on Wednesday by Mr. Brnovich’s successor, Kris Mayes, a Democrat who took office last month as the top law enforcement official in the battleground state, which remains at the forefront of the election denial movement.
The sweeping review was completed last year after politicians and other conspiracy theorists aligned with former President Donald J. Trump inundated Mr. Brnovich’s office with election falsehoods. They claimed baselessly that large numbers of people had voted twice; that ballots had been sent to dead people; and that ballots with traces of bamboo had been flown in from Korea and filled out in advance for Joseph R. Biden Jr., who won Arizona by a little over 10,000 votes.
But investigators discredited these claims, according to a report on their findings that was withheld by Mr. Brnovich. (The Washington Post reported earlier on the findings.)”…
not that Republicans have a corner on the corruption market, but it sure looks like it again and again…besides trump, Richard Nixon comes to mind immediately for corrupt presidents…the fact that Nixon was pardoned by Ford and was never prosecuted, let the cat out of the bag…let other presidents ( trump ) disregard the rule of law without consequences ( until now )…and keep in mind Gerald Ford assumed the presidency because Nixon’s previous VP, Spiro Agnew, resigned…Ford was appointed by Nixon and confirmed by the House…Ford became the VP…from Wikipedia: “Agnew is most famous for his resignation in the fall of 1973 after he was under investigation for the crimes of extortion, taxfraud, bribery, and conspiracy. In October he was charged for taking bribes of more than $100,000 during his vice presidential term.
Agnew is the only U.S. vice president in history to leave office because of criminal charges. Ten years later, in January 1983, he paid the state of Maryland almost $270,000 as a result of a civil suit that came from the bribery allegations. He cut a plea deal and narrowly got out of having to serve a long time in prison. He was only the second vice president to resign the office (John C. Calhoun had been the first).
and then in another revolting development ( as Jackie Gleason used to say ), Kevin McCarthy made a promise…isn’t that special?…he promised mega-election denier, lying Fox “News” anchor Tucker Carlson that he would give Tucker Capitol surveillance footage from the Jan. 6 riot…turns out he gave access to Carlson to the more than 41,000 hours of surveillance footage…needless to say… Democrats, Capital Police, January 6 Select Committee are all freaking out…and with good reason… since Tucker Carlson is constantly spewing misinformation and conspiracy theories about January 6…from CNN by Annie Grayer, Jamie Gangel, Alayna Treene and Hannah Rabinowitz: “House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has granted Fox News host Tucker Carlson access to all of the US Capitol security footage from January 6, multiple sources told CNN.”…( Axios was the first to report. )…The highly unusual move – a House speaker handing over a massive trove of internal government materials to a friendly media outlet – comes after the California Republican faced significant pressure from his right flank to relitigate the work of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, insurrection.
Carlson has been one of the most prominent promoters of January 6 conspiracy theories. Most notably, he has devoted significant airtime to the false claim that liberal “deep state” partisans within the FBI orchestrated the insurrection as a way to undermine former President Donald Trump. He has conducted sympathetic interviews with some of the rioters who were subsequently charged by the Justice Department.
Several GOP lawmakers within McCarthy’s ranks had hoped to review the material themselves, likely to hunt for footage that supports their controversial claims about the January 6 insurrection. By giving the videos to Carlson, McCarthy is essentially outsourcing the task to right-wing media, at least for the moment.”…a lot of pushback from Democrats in the House and Senate, Capital Police, members of the January 6 Committee…all about security concerns which put everyone who works in the Capitol at risk…more from CNN: Former DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who was attacked during the January 6 riot, called McCarthy’s decision to give Carlson access to security footage from that day a “dangerous choice.”
It “guarantees that it will be selectively edited to fit an extreme MAGA narrative without care for the safety of Capitol police, members of Congress and congressional staff. Airing footage of restricted areas of the Capitol and sensitive evacuation protocols all while spreading misinformation about the nature of the attack on the Capitol endangers everyone working in the building,” Fanone, who is now a CNN contributor, said in a statement to CNN.”…
yesterday I wrote about trump visiting East Palestine, Ohio and whining about Biden’s “disregard” for East Palestine in difference of “his tour of Ukraine”…his lying and hypocrisy knows no bounds…from Vanity Fair by Bess Levin: “TRUMP FORGETS TO MENTION THE TRAIN SAFETY REGULATIONS HE GUTTED DURING VISIT TO EAST PALESTINE, OHIO: We’re sure it was just a convenient oversight.: During a visit to East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday, Donald Trumpaccused the federal government of “indifference and betrayal” in the wake of the February 3 freight train derailment the resulted in residents within a one-mile radius being forced to evacuate. He added that “what this community needs now are not excuses…but answers and results,” and, throwing a bit of red meat to the right, said that he “sincerely hope[s]” that Joe Biden will have “some money left over” to deal with the disaster when he gets back from “touring Ukraine.” One thing Trump didn’t mention? The train safety regulations he gleefully gutted as president.
Among the biggest relevant regulatory rollbacks Trump has conveniently remained mum over is the 2018 scrapping of a 2015 Obama-era rule requiring advanced braking technology on trains transporting particularly hazardous materials. That rule would have required compliance by certain trains by 2021 and others by 2023, but as Fortunereported at the time, Trump’s Department of Transportation decided that “the cost of installing these more sophisticated brakes outweigh[ed] the benefit.” While it has been noted that, technically, the rule would not have required the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in Ohio to have such brakes, some believe it would have if not for Trump. “He should be embarrassed,” Cynthia Quarterman, who helped craft the rule, said of Trump in an interview with Bloomberg. “Regulations force people to advance technology,” and if the train at the center of the derailment had had the advanced braking system, “there is no question the accident would have been less dramatic.” As Bloomberg notes, the Obama mandate, which was introduced along with a bunch of other new safety rules, would have forced trains to swap out what the then head of the Federal Railroad Administration likened to a “Civil War–era braking system.” But, of course:
…the rules came under fire from the rail industry, including Norfolk Southern, as being too expensive, and the Trump administration rescinded them after conducting a congressionally mandated analysis that found their costs would be “significantly higher than the expected benefits.”
“It’s the height of hypocrisy for Trump to feign concern for the community of East Palestine after years of openly mocking and rolling back environmental safeguards,” said Sara Chieffo, a vice president with the environmental group League of Conservation Voters. “Trump bent over backwards to cater to corporate polluters at every turn and put East Palestine and other communities directly in harm’s way.”
The other rules scrapped by the 45th president were for recurring safety audits of railroads and the requirement of having at least two crew members aboard freight trains. (Though the Norfolk Southern train that derailed had three crew members aboard, Politico notes that in regard to the two-member rule, the Trump administration claimed “a train crew staffing rule would unnecessarily impede the future of rail innovation and automation.”)
“Congressional Republicans and former Trump administration officials owe East Palestine an apology for selling them out to rail-industry lobbyists when they dismantled Obama-Biden rail safety protections as well as EPA powers to rapidly contain spills,” White House spokesman Andrew Batessaid in a statement. He added that GOP lawmakers “laid the groundwork” for the Trump administration to get rid of safety requirements and, while he was at it, claimed House Republicans want to “defund our ability to protect drinking water.” (House Republicans last year proposed major cuts to the EPA, including scrapping its Surface Water Protection Program.) “There is only one way they can prove that they are finally disowning their long history of giveaways to rail-industry management at the expense of communities like East Palestine: work across the aisle with us to put Obama-Biden protections back in place and go further, including with higher fines for rail pollution and properly equipping the EPA.”
Could Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have publicly addressed the disaster sooner and visited the site before Trump? Yes, sure. (In an interview with CBS on Tuesday, Buttigieg admitted as much, saying: “I was focused on just making sure that our folks on the ground were all set but could have spoken sooner about how strongly I felt about this incident, and that’s a lesson learned for me.“) Is it completely ridiculous for Trump to show up while failing to acknowledge the damage done by his administration? Also yes!
“It’s clear that it’s a political stunt,” former transportation secretary Ray LaHoodtold Politico. “If he wants to visit, he’s a citizen. But clearly his regulations and the elimination of them, and no emphasis on safety, is going to be pointed out.”
while inches of now had fallen in the upper mid-west all the way to Maine…we, in Elkins Park, had 67 degree weather…perfect for a walk…I left the apartment around 4:00 hoping to meet up with Julia, who borrowed my car today to go to work, on her way home…it was delightful outside…and met up with Jerry and Loretta on their walk…we walked together for a little toward Julia’s house and around the Ogontz field…Pam used to baby sit for Jerry and Loretta kids…they have a daughter named Julia…Pam loved the name…and of course, named Julia, Julia…they left and Julia had not called me yet that she was close…I walked around the field again and then met up with Julia…I had nothing to do this evening so I told her she could keep the car to use tomorrow…she drove me to Trios to pick up chicken wings that I had ordered…my dinner for this evening…I’ve been craving chicken wings for a while now…and it was a perfect opportunity to pick them up and Julia could drive me back home…I gave her one wing as a tip…she sent me a picture of the bones…they were delicious…as was my walk…although I only walked 1.8 miles…still a good walk on a day of hypocrisy…
my lovely granddaughter is 23…a lovely party, a taco bar and pitchers of Margarita’s…I got my booster shot today, and before I let her give it to me…I asked if I could have a drink…with a Margarita on my mind…she said yes, I could have a drink, it wouldn’t hurt me…and actually, my arm isn’t even sore… which was what happened to me the three times before…I didn’t feel well for a good 12 hours…but this one…is ok…and I did have a couple of Margaritas at Julia’s celebration…which was a wonderful celebration with Henry, Suraya, Carly, Elissa ( her adopted grandmom ), Susan ( her adopted other mother ), Mark and Lauren and Rob and John and then us, the two remaining grandparents…Barbara and I…we were both there the day she was born…and have watched her grow into a beautiful, loving, smart, young woman…who lights up a room…I’m so proud that she’s my granddaughter…yesterday she wore a t-shirt that read “Stop Being Not My Birthday”…I love saying whatever year it is, that’s how old she is…she was born in 2000…on 2-22 on a Tuesday…Julia’s birthday starts off the Pisces’ birthdays…Julia on the 22nd…my sister, Candy. on the 25th….Pam on the 26th and then I bring up end on the 28th…and throw in Alix on the 27th…Alix is one day older than me…so I love being in the same room with her…I’m not the oldest person in the room…which has been happening much too often lately…so 80 looms near…I have a weird problem wrapping my head around that…but let’s not dwell on that yet…lets just celebrate Julia…
I have to post what Bernice wrote about Doris on facebook yesterday…”My heart is heavy recalling that one of my dearest friends, Doris Sue Freedman, died one year ago today. I miss her so. And yet when I think of her, I remember so many happy times. I remember her infectious laugh and how she and I could enter these great, hearty fits of laughter that would bring tears to our eyes and joy to our hearts. I remember her cooking and how we could bond over shared recipes and many, many shared meals. Doris and I could talk for hours, about big things, life and death, and small. She had a true gift for friendship–many people considered Doris their best friend. When she was at home in her final days, her apartment was always filled with people who came to say their goodbyes and be in her presence for one last time. We all loved her so. I love her still. “…a special tribute…
today is Ash Wednesday…it marks the beginning of Lent…yesterday being Marti Gras’ Fat Tuesday… Biden spoke in Poland with ashes on his forehead…”The ash cross marking observers’ foreheads is meant to represent mortality and penance for their sins. It is applied by a priest during a morning mass, often along with a small blessing: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”…and that goes for Putin who was reduced to ashes with a protest by Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of the activist group Pussy Riot…she’s taking this performance around the country…Nadya was on Lawrence O’Donnell’s Last Word program… Nadya and Maria Alyokhina were arrested and sentenced to two years in a Siberian labor camp for their activism…Pussy Riot is a thorn in the side of Putin…from Appolo, The International Art Magazine by Millie Walton: “Pussy Riot’s plan to reduce Putin to ashes:
Putin’s Ashes (2022), Nadya Tolokonnikova. Courtesy the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles.
In August 2022, a group of 12 women wearing black silk negligees, ripped fish-net tights and red balaclavas cast spells and set a three-by-three metre portrait of Vladimir Putin on fire. The feminist protest-art collective Pussy Riot has tried various methods of purging the Russian president over the last decade. Punk Prayer (2012), a performance protesting against the banning of gay pride and the Orthodox Church’s support of the president, involved the group playing a rock song inside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and pleading with the Virgin Mary to banish Putin as they punched their fists in the air. The act resulted in two of its members, Nadya Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, being arrested and sentenced to two years in a Siberian labour camp. Putin’s Ashes, however, was the first time they have called on the powers of witchcraft. As Tolokonnikova tells me, ‘the stakes have never been higher.’
Tolokonnikova is a strong believer in what she calls ‘magic activist thinking’. ‘When people come together for the same cause, they have this powerful intentionality and are able to create something bigger than themselves,’ she says. ‘This is the feeling I’ve been chasing my whole life, going to protests and rallies and staging performances.’
Pussy Riot, of which Tolokonnikova is a founding member, is a non-hierarchical collective. In theory, this means that anyone can participate in their actions or use their name, but there was a mandatory requirement for the participants of Putin’s Ashes: they all had to agree that Putin ‘is the most dangerous living dictator who has to be neutralised’. According to Tolokonnikova, the combined hatred of the group was necessary for building up ‘momentum’. While the ritual hasn’t yet had the desired effect, 12 hours after it took place it was reported that the Crimean bridge, which connects Russia to the annexed region, had been blown up. ‘It would be absurd to make a direct link,’ Tolokonnikova admits, ‘but I think there is something magical about how these two events occurred so close in time.’…
( from Wikipedia: On 8 October 2022, at 6:07 am, a fire broke out on the Crimean Bridge as a result of an explosion, which occurred on the road bridge, on or under the westbound vehicle lanes running from Russia to Kerch in occupied Crimea. Two two-lane vehicular spans of the bridge collapsed into the water. )
Tolokonnikova grew up in Norilsk, one of the northernmost cities in the world. As we speak over Zoom, she receives a text from her mum who still lives there to say they’ve issued a warning due to strong winds and temperatures below –50°C. It was in this extreme environment that, at the age of 13 or 14, Tolokonnikova staged her first protest – against her school, for praising the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the socialist reforms that followed while ignoring the Soviet regime’s political repression. ‘A lot of the actions I did [back then] were really naive and childish, but I was still trying to do something and that was important,’ she says. After she moved to Moscow at the age of 16, her efforts became both more nuanced and more dangerous. In 2007, she co-founded an art group called Voina, which became known for its provocative and politically charged works of performance art that included forcibly kissing police women on the streets of Moscow. Then, in 2011, Pussy Riot was born. The group staged numerous guerrilla art actions around Moscow that often resulted in brutal beatings by the police and arrests, but gained international recognition only after Tolokonnikova’s imprisonment – Madonna and Hilary Clinton were among the many public figures who spoke out in their defence.
Tolokonnikova attributes much of the support they received during that time and since to the the group’s image. Pussy Riot’s typical rebel ‘uniform’ comprises short dresses and brightly coloured balaclavas ( a close-fitting garment covering the whole head and neck except for parts of the face, typically made of wool. ). On Zoom, after Tolokonnikova appears briefly to say hello in person, I find myself speaking to an avatar of a masked cyclops woman with voluptuous lips and impressive cleavage, holding a lighter in one hand and a bottle bomb in the other. ‘It was important for us to juxtapose elements that would stand for militants and rioters but at the same time signify a classical femininity – and it works […] What strong art language can do is help to translate what you’re doing – your political position – into different contexts so that people can relate,’ she explains. ‘We considered wearing black masks but decided that if we turned up in a public place in black masks, people would just be scared.’
On the opening night of the group’s first solo exhibition at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in Los Angeles (27 January–3 February) all visitors are required to wear balaclavas. It’s a symbol of solidarity – as Tolokonnikova puts it, ‘anyone can be Pussy Riot’. But it’s also an attempt to overcome the problem of presenting art that’s meant to provoke in a gallery or museum setting. The masks are a costume, an invitation to experience the thrill and threat of taking part. The show will also include the bottled ashes of the burnt portrait of Putin, a short film and an NFT artwork created in collaboration with the American artist Shepard Fairey, with all proceeds going to Ukrainian frontline troops.
Since Tolokonnikova was declared a ‘foreign agent’ by the Kremlin in December 2021, the crypto world has become an important platform for Pussy Riot’s activism. ‘First of all, it makes fundraising much easier because you do not depend on any government or corporation and secondly, it builds community. A lot of NFT projects are decentralised and it has been interesting for me as an activist to see how a community can govern itself within that space,’ she says. In March 2022, the group was instrumental in raising $6.8m for Ukraine through the sale of an NFT of the Ukrainian flag on UkraineDAO, a community-led crypto platform co-founded by Tolokonnikova and UnicornDAO, an investment fund that collects digital artworks made by female, LGBTQ+ and non-binary creators in an attempt to address the gender imbalance on the crypto scene.Does it ever feel like too much? ‘Always. Activist burnout is a very, very real thing,’ Tolokonnikova says. ‘As an activist, you’re very vulnerable to all the bad that happens in the world – you keep yourself open to it. I try to bury that trauma in an insane amount of work and my brain gets exhausted. It’s my community who helps me to remember that it is important to take care of myself. At the end of the day you’re going to be more effective in helping the world if you feel good.’”…
trump was in East Palestine, Ohio today telling lies…when his rolling back of regulations while he was in office may have contributed to the East Palestine disaster…Jr. whining that Biden didn’t do anything about East Palestine…like father, like son…from The New York Times by Jazmine Ulloa, Maggie Haberman and Mark Walker: “Trump Visits East Palestine, Seeking to Draw Contrast With Biden: The former president has attacked the administration’s handling of the train derailment, even as his own environmental policies while in office have been criticized.: EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — It was evocative of the former president’s time in office: an at-times meandering address, punctated by self-promotion — his brand-name Trump Water — and an undercurrent of grievance.
But as he visited the small Ohio town of East Palestine on Wednesday, former President Donald J. Trump sought to hammer home a message just by showing up — that his successor and the man he’s seeking to replace, President Biden, had been ineffective in responding to a domestic crisis after a train derailed and spewed toxic chemicals early this month.
Mr. Trump had arrived on the ground before either Mr. Biden or the transportation secretary to a train derailment many Republicans have turned into a referendum on a lack of federal concern with the needs of red-state America.
At an East Palestine firehouse where he met first-responders and local elected officials, Mr. Trump, in remarks behind a lectern, said that “what this community needs now are not excuses and all of the other things you’ve been hearing, but answers and results.”
He suggested the administration had shown “indifference and betrayal” and he talked about how truckloads of his name-brand water would be distributed to residents, as local officials referred to him as “President Trump” or “the president.” And while he made reference to the “Fake News,” he praised reporters for their coverage and, for a change, his emphasis on grievances was not primarily about his own.
Mr. Trump traveled with his son Donald Trump Jr. and was joined at the firehouse by two top Ohio Republicans — Senator J.D. Vance and Representative Bill Johnson. One of his goals was to suggest that Mr. Biden and his administration were simply responding to him. Shortly before Mr. Trump’s visit, federal officials announced that the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, planned to visit East Palestine on Thursday.
Mr. Trump knocked Mr. Biden as absent after the episode’s fallout and suggested he was waiting for the president to “get back from touring Ukraine.”
In reality, the Biden administration has had officials from key agencies on the ground since the derailment, the president has spoken to the governor and the Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the railroad to perform a cleanup and cover expenses. But no major official, or the president, had visited, which Mr. Trump and Republicans have seized on.
Mr. Trump was the first Republican to announce a 2024 run for the White House. His visit highlighted an unusual moment in presidential politics: A former president touring the scene of an emergency and coordinating the distribution of water and supplies, as he once did in office, while aggressively criticizing the current administration’s response.
The former president has spent days attacking Mr. Biden, suggesting he had walked away from residents in a deep-red state that Mr. Trump won in the 2016 and 2020 elections.
But the derailment and its aftermath have also focused attention on Mr. Trump’s own environmental policies and his cuts to regulations. And while Mr. Trump sometimes showed up at disaster sites as president, his ability to be empathetic has never been a strong suit. In one famous moment during his presidency, Mr. Trump raised eyebrows on a visit to Puerto Rico after a hurricane, by tossing rolls of paper towels at people in need of supplies, as if throwing T-shirts into the stands at a baseball game.
Mr. Trump’s visit to East Palestine was far more traditional and subdued — though he still appeared to struggle with showing empathy in public — as he described the unexpected circumstance residents there were facing.
He described the “nightmare” that people had suffered because of the “dangerous-looking site” he had just toured, saying the tragedy “rocked the lives” of people there.
On Wednesday morning, more than a dozen people in Trump gear waited in the pouring rain for the former president along the city’s downtown streets. Grabbing coffee at a local McDonald’s, Duane Stalnaker, 78, said he drove in from nearby Salem for a chance to see Mr. Trump.
“Personally, I think the response has been pretty good,” Mr. Stalnaker said. “This is something you just don’t experience every week. How do you really prepare for it?”…
As Mr. Trump and Republicans in Congress increasingly attack the Biden administration for its response to the derailment, the White House responded on Wednesday by accusing both the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers of dismantling Obama-era rail safety measures put in place to prevent episodes like the East Palestine derailment.
“Congressional Republicans laid the groundwork for the Trump administration to tear up requirements for more effective train brakes, and last year most House Republicans wanted to defund our ability to protect drinking water,” Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the White House, said in a statement.
A person close to Mr. Trump countered that federal officials said the cause appeared to be an axle, not a brake issue, and the repealed brake-related regulation had no bearing on the crash.
The White House also referred to a 2021 letter signed by more than 20 Republican senators supporting waivers for the rail industry to limit in-person safety inspections of railroad tracks.
Mr. Buttigieg, the transportation secretary and the focus of much of the Republican criticism, is planning to visit East Palestine on Thursday to hear from officials and residents, and to receive an update on the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, which plans to release its initial findings on Thursday.
Mr. Buttigieg will be joined by two federal officials who have been at the scene — Amit Bose, who leads the Federal Railroad Administration, and Tristan Brown, the deputy administrator for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Mr. Buttigieg has called on the operator of the train that derailed, Norfolk Southern, as well as the nation’s other freight rail companies, to take immediate steps to improve safety.
He previously said he did not want his visit to be a distraction and would wait until the federal response in East Palestine moved past the emergency phase.”…
trump is distracting us from his legal…the twenty or so investigations and lawsuits he is facing since he left office…while the foreperson of the Georgia Grand Jury speaks out…and while Jack Smith, Special Counsel has sent subpoenas to Jared and Ivanka…who “couldn’t remember” certain things before the January 6 Committee…the “I don’t recall” answers…Jack Smith getting closer and closer…
so ends Julia’s birthday…which will be front and center for the next weeks when we celebrate the other Pisces…Happy Birthday Julia…it was fun and happy you think my present was cute…
my dearest friend, Doris, died early in the morning a year ago today…Patty posted this picture of Doris at Thanksgiving 2020…with these words: “A year ago today the world lost a wonderful person, and the best listener ever, to lung cancer. Doris fought hard for more than 6 years and lived life to its fullest til the end. Miss you so much, Doris Sue Freedman! Rest in Peace.
yes, we miss her every day…she was a most wonderful person…I had the privilege of caring for Doris those six years ago when she had her left lung removed…and at various times during her illness when she wasn’t feeling well…I loved caring for her…and I loved cooking for her…I would make her California BLTs…that’s with avocado making it a California BLT…I made her milkshakes…I would make her peanut butter and jelly…I made her soup…I brought her Popeye’s chicken…she loved their spicy chicken, and she loved the biscuit…she introduced me to Popeye’s…she introduced me to all kinds of things in the 57 years I knew her…Gimlets for which I am forever grateful…she made her own mayonnaise!…who does that?…Doris did…we traveled with Doris, had many great times…10 days before she died, Pam, Susan and Julia came to visit her while I was there…and she told them funny things during their visit…one I had not heard until today…Julia had written it in her notes…this note: She doesn’t like a hoverer and the hoverer is pop ( that’e me ). When she pees in the middle of the night she sees pop’s eyes in the crack of the door checking on her”…I am a night owl and when I was there this last time I would listen for her to stir or if she needed anything…I had no idea that I was “hovering”…hahahahaha…I guess I was a hoverer…and Doris was nice enough not to tell me to stop it…hahahahahaha…
this morning Pam called me to tell me my cousin Mickey died…Mickey was the oldest cousin/grandchild of Nancy’s family between her Mom and Dad’s family…Rest in Peace Mickey…I will miss our dinners together every once in a while…I saw him in January when I went to repair Susie’s Ben Soloway’s watercolor that had fallen in the fame…and he was coming to my 80th birthday party…I will miss him…Pam also told me that February 21 was the day that Anita died, Susan’s Mom…she died in 2020…just when Covid was hitting America…we don’t know if Anita had Covid…February 21 is a sad day…a sad anniversary…
there was something to be happy about today…first, Julia made dinner and invited me to join…second, we heard from the foreman, 30 year old Emily Kohrs, of the Grand Jury…she was interviewed and told us a lot without telling us much…and it seems that she shouldn’t have spoken…making headaches for District Attorney Fani Willis…from NBC by Blayne Alexander and Dareh Gregorian: “Georgia grand jury recommended indictments for more than a dozen people in Trump probe, foreperson says: Emily Kohrs told NBC News the panel’s recommendations include “some names you expect.” Asked whether they included Trump, she said, “Potentially, it might.”: ATLANTA — The Georgia grand jury that investigated possible interference in the 2020 election by Donald Trump and his allies recommended indicting over a dozen people, the jury foreperson said Tuesday — a list she said “might” include the former president.
“There are certainly names that you will recognize, yes. There are names also you might not recognize,” Emily Kohrs said in an interview that aired on NBC News’ “Nightly News.”
She said the list of recommended indictments is “not a short list.”
“There are definitely some names you expect,” she said, declining to name any specific names in accordance with the instructions of the judge who presided over the grand jury.
“I don’t think that there are any giant plot twists coming. I don’t think there’s any giant ‘that’s not the way I expected this to go at all’ moments,” she said. “I would not expect you to be shocked.”
Asked whether the list could include Trump, Kohrs said, “Potentially. It might.”
The panel was convened in May and officially dissolved last month after it submitted its recommendations to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office.
Parts of the grand jury report made public last week revealed the panel had interviewed 75 witnesses and recommended perjury charges against “one or more witnesses” who testified before it. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered those names be kept under wraps for time being as the DA decides whether to seek charges.
Kohrs said the panel thought one or possibly two witnesses might have misled the grand jury.
“I remember at least one and probably more than one moment where an answer made me pause, because it did not match something that either I had heard previously or something that I had seen,” she said.
A witness who did strike her as “honest” was Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who’d fought his subpoena for testimony in the courts.
Willis wanted him questioned about a post-election phone call he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in November 2020. Raffensperger has said Graham pressed him about whether he had the power to reject certain absentee ballots, which Raffensperger interpreted as a suggestion to toss out legally cast votes.
Kohrs said Graham was “fantastic,” adding: “He was personable. He was forthcoming. He was very willing to just have a conversation.”
She said she was also impressed by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who’d also challenged his subpoena. “He may have fought it tooth and nail, but when he got to the door, it was like he respected the fact that the battle had been decided,” Kohrs said.
While he did at some points claim attorney-client privilege and assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, “he would think about it before he asserted privilege,” she said.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, meanwhile, “shared very little” during his roughly 90 minutes of testimony, she said.
Another witness whom Kohrs did not identify was offered immunity on the witness stand after not having been responsive to questions, she said. In all, about a dozen witnesses had some form of immunity, Kohrs said, and they were not generally well-known names.
The special purpose grand jury is different from a typical grand jury — it has the ability to issue subpoenas, and rather than issue indictments, it submits its findings to the district attorney, who then decides whether to present evidence to another grand jury for criminal charges.
Kohrs said one of the first pieces of evidence the panel reviewed was the widely reported audio of the Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump urged Raffensperger, the state’s top election official, to overturn Joe Biden’s win. “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state,” Trump said on the call.
Kohrs said that she was busy with work at the time news of the phone call broke and that the first time she heard it was when she was sitting on the grand jury. She said it was one of the first pieces of evidence the panel heard.
“It’s an interesting piece of the puzzle, a strange piece of the puzzle,” Kohrs said.
Trump, who has defended the call as “perfect,” called Willis’s investigation a “witch hunt.
Kohrs said she did not vote in either the 2016 or 2020 elections but volunteered to be foreperson because “this is really cool, and because this is important.”
“I think we discovered a lot about a very, very complex situation,” she said. “I think we found a lot of answers.”…and answers we will find out soon…music to my ears…
a year ago…time does fly…also, one year ago Putin started his war on Ukraine…thousands have died…rest in peace our dearly departed…we miss you forever…
on a happier note…my lovely granddaughter, Julia will be 23 tomorrow…Happy Birthday to this lovely person!…
our President wasn’t here for President’s Day…he was on a train for 10 hours on his way to Kiev, Ukraine…the big surprise that was kept a secret…an amazing show of support for the people of Ukraine and their President Zelenskyy…who has been compared to Winston Churchill…”We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender!…and Biden was there to assure the Ukrainian people that they have our support…we have their back…tomorrow is one year since Putin invaded Ukraine after annexing Crimea in 2014…Putin got kicked out of the G8 and Russia suffered sanctions…he didn’t care, he got Crimea and most of Urkraine’s coastline…the world stood by and watched…this time the sanctions imposed on Russian after his invasion of Ukraine were more “wide-ranging, targeting individuals, banks, businesses, monetary exchanges, bank transfers, exports, and imports…with the aim of devastating the Russian economy… from Wikipedia: “On February 20, 2023, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, visited Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine—his first visit since the beginning of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The visit was the “first time in modern history that a US leader has visited a war zone outside the shield of the US military.”…from The Atlantic by Eliot A. Cohen: “Biden Just Destroyed Putin’s Last Hope: The president’s visit to Ukraine was a gut punch to the Russian leader.: The long-range missiles matter. So do the super-accurate artillery shells, the surface-to-air missiles, and the winter weather gear; the training in the English countryside or the muddy Grafenwöhr maneuver grounds; and the intelligence provided from the eyes in space and the ears on airplanes that circle outside the battle zone.
President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv matters just as much as any of these.
Other heads of government preceded him, earning deserved credit. But it is an altogether different thing when the president of the United States—who is, indeed, the leader of the Free World—shows up. His words mattered. He pledged “our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” And even more important, that the United States will stand with Ukraine “as long as it takes.”
Symbols matter: a Kennedy or a Reagan at the Berlin Wall, a Churchill with a cigar and a bowler, for that matter a green-clad Zelensky growling, “I need ammunition, not a ride.” Simply by taking the hazardous trip to Kyiv, Biden made a strategic move of cardinal importance.
While the president clearly intended to bolster the confidence of Ukraine, and the commitment of ambivalent Europeans and neo-isolationist Americans, his real audiences lay elsewhere, as his remarks about Western strength indicated. Russia has cycled through a series of theories of victory in Ukraine—that Kyiv’s leaders would flee, that Ukraine’s population would not fight, that its army would be crumpled up by a sudden blitz or by grinding assaults. It has been reduced to one last hope: that Vladimir Putin’s will is stronger than Joe Biden’s. And Biden just said, by deed as well as word, “Oh no it’s not.”
This is a gut punch to Russia’s leader. The Russians received word of the trip, we are informed—and presumably the threat, stated or implied, that they would get a violent and overwhelming response if they attempted to interfere with it. For a leader obsessed with strength, like Putin, that is a blow. His own people will quietly or openly ask, “Why could we not prevent this?” And the answer, unstated, will have to be, “Because we were afraid.”
The visual contrast between an American president with his signature aviator sunglasses walking in sunny downtown Kyiv with the pugnacious and eloquent president of Ukraine and a Russian president who has yet to visit the war zone is also striking. Not to mention the difference between an American president who mingles with others, shaking hands, hugging and slapping backs, and a Russian president who keeps his subordinates at a physical distance, and who has to be surrounded by flunkies and actors when he supposedly meets with normal people. No belligerent words from the Kremlin will change those visual images, which will be seen in Russia as well as around the world.
This was not a stunt, but rather an act of statesmanship. Biden’s visit comes at a moment when much hangs in the balance. The Chinese have begun making noises about arming Russia, according to the United States government, which would be a very great change in this war. The Western allies, including the democracies of Asia, have begun mobilizing their military industries. The Russian offensives that were supposed to produce large gains timed to the anniversary of the invasion have instead carpeted the Donbas with the bodies of thousands of men who learned too late that, as one French World War I general put it, “fire kills.” And meanwhile, Ukraine is building up a force to use in its own counteroffensive.
The Russia-Ukraine war is not merely a humanitarian calamity, a monstrous collection of crimes against humanity, a gross violation of solemn agreements and international law. It is also a watershed, in which much will be determined about the future of the international system. It could lead to a very dark place, not different in kind from that of the 1930s and 1940s, if the dictators get their way. But if the liberal democracies unite and display the resolve, enterprise, and military capacity that they have shown before, that outcome can still be avoided.
To that end, nothing matters more than American leadership, the recovery of the prestige and weight that have been wasted or diffused over the past few decades. We are not near the conclusion of this war, and there is much of a tangible nature that needs to be done to bring the conflict closer to its end. Words and gestures are critical, but only when accompanied by deeds. But for now, by taking a bold step, President Biden has made the future for Ukraine, for Europe, and for the cause of freedom under the law a great deal brighter.”…meanwhile, while Biden and the international Democracies are making history, the stupid Republicans as whining sour grapes…”Biden should be home in East Palestine, Ohio – Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. or “Biden should be at the southern border…and not surprised Biden is ditching America for Ukraine” – Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla…of ““So it takes two years for Joe Biden @POTUS to visit the war zone he created at our southern border, but then he goes to see another war zone he created in Ukraine.” – Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C…or ““The U.S. support for war in Ukraine has been like a U.S. proxy war with Russia. But now it’s becoming more like a U.S.- China war through the Ukraine — Russia war. End it now!” – Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA…jerks, all of them…
took a walk around Alverthorpe again today…it was warm…walked 2.8 miles today…went to the Mall to see if this fuzzy was still there on sale at The Gap…but not, it was gone…ate a couple of Spring Rolls at the Food Court…found a quarter, two dimes, and seven pennies…then off to The Ambler to see the Oscar Nominated Short Documentaries…being shown at 6:45…as the short films were kind of a downer…very heavy subjects…the short documentaries were all wonderful…How Do You Measure A Year? by Jay Rosenblatt – he interviews his daughter,Ella, every year on her birthday from 2 – 18…priceless…he asks her the same questions…at the end she sings 525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear…525,600 minutes – how do you measure, measure a year?”…16 years in the making…priceless…The Elephant Whisperers by Guneet Monga and Kartiki Gonsalves – “Bomman and Bellie, an indigenous couple in South India, devote their lives to caring for an orphaned baby elephant named Raghu, forging a family like no other that tests the barrier between the human and the animal world.”…Stranger At The Gate – by Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones – “A Marine plans a terrorist attack in a mosque in a small American town ( Muncie, Indiana ). His plan takes an unexpected turn when he comes face to face with the people he is trying to kill, forcing him to confront his own actions.”…Haulout by Maxim Arbugaev and Evgenia Arbugaeva – “A man waits in his cabin on the desolate expanse of the Russian Arctic. He perseveres to observe a natural event that happens there every year, but ocean warming is taking its toll.”…climate change at it’s worst…The Martha Mitchell Effect by Beth Levison and Anne Alvergue – “The Cabinet wife who spoke out during Watergate and the Nixon administration’s campaign to gaslight her into silence. Historians profile the life of Martha Mitchell, the wife of the Nixon cabinet member, Attorney General John Mitchell, she was the most unlikely of whistleblowers: a Republican cabinet woman who was discredited by the Nixon administration in 1972 for keeping silent”, but eventually was proven correct…Martha Mitchell was right…I urge you to go see these exceptional short documentaries…each one was better than the next in a never ending circle…they were all exceptional…you can probably stream them on Netflix…or Apple…
do you think Punxsutawney Phil was wrong to predict 6 more weeks of winter?…we had 5 beautiful days out of the last 6…and the only day it was cold was Friday…I took a walk around Alverthorpe Park this afternoon, on Pam’s advice…”a beautiful day for a walk”…this was after Pam and I went to see the Oscar Nominated Short Films – Live Action…at the Hiway…1:30…Julia and Henry couldn’t make it in time, so they bailed…Elissa overbooked herself, so she couldn’t go…so it was up to me and Pam to hold down the fort…Live Action…this award has been around since 1957 under various names…the five short films are from around the world…Ivalu from Denmark: “Ivalu is gone. Her little sister is desperate to find her and her father does not care. The vast Greenlandic nature holds secrets. Where is Ivalu?”… “Based on the award-winning Danish graphic novel Ivalu by Morten Dürr and Lars Horneman. Directed by Oscar winner director Anders Walter for Helium“…The Night Ride from Norway: “On a cold December night, Ebba is waiting for the tram. But an unexpected turn of events turns the journey home into an eventful one, setting her entire life on a new path.”…the taking of the Pelham 123 as a tram…in the dead of a cold night, Ebba teaches herself to drive the tram…The Pupils from Italy via Disney, directed and written by Alice Rohrwacher: “a short film about a group of rebellious young girls at a Catholic boarding school in Italy during the advent season (leading up to Christmas) during a time of scarcity and war.”…could have been the Second World War…the nuns are sufficiently strict…and uncompromising…and a beautiful red cake is involved…The Red Suitcase from Iran by way of Luxemborg directed by Cyrus Neshvad: “a young girl wearing a headscarf hesitates to take her red suitcase off the baggage area of Luxemborg Airport…she is frightened and wants to hide…the security guards check her luggage…filled with drawings, brushes and paint…we soon find out who she is frightened of…she removed her headscarf…and from Ireland An Irish Goodbye written by Tom Berkeley and directed by Ross White: two brothers who don’t get along after their mother has died…they try to fulfill her bucket list while she’s in the urn after having been cremated…I liked this the best because of it’s levity…it’s funny, although they’re dealing with their grief and bad feeling toward each other…the other films all deal with sexism, the oppression of women and girls…and only one in English…the rest are subtitled…and only one from America via Disney…producers like Alfonso Cuarón and Woody Harrelson…the Short Films Animation were being shown at 4:30 but I had just seen them last night, and we thought we should save them for when Julia to come and see them…Elissa had a busy schedule today…I called her while I was walking to see if she was getting though her day…a day of visiting “the sick”…and then an early dinner with Aunt Lois and Andi and Todd…I told her we didn’t get to the second showing and I was walking around Alverthorpe…she asked if I wanted to have dinner with them…and I’m always open for a party…I said yes…just be at Aunt Lois’ at 5:00ism…their was a 5:30 reservation at Macaroni…I hadn’t been there for years…and I tried to remember who I was there with…I don’t know… but I know I was there a while ago…I had delicious Rigatoni Vodka…it was rigatoni on the menu but I asked for penne ( my pasta of choice )…and it was delicious…I had to be home by 8:00 to play Pitch with Patty and Gary and Keith…to hear about the lastest updates from Keith…he was in the hospital last weekend…on various floors and ended up high with a beautiful view of Portland and Casco Bay…and he’s feeling much better…also, he has a date for his first treatment…a load off his mind, since he had to postpone because he was in the hospital last weekend…and Keith, you sounded good…we all had a great time playing “the Doris Memorial Playing of Pitch night”…it will be a year that Doris is gone on Tuesday…February 21…the day before Julia’s birthday…which starts the birthdays next week…Julia, Candy, Pam, Alix and mine…one after another…I walked 2.7 miles on this beautiful Sunday…fun filled… and I did my laundry…
when the Empire of Light was in the movie theaters, they thought Olivia Colman was Oscar worthy…she was nominated for a Golden Globe…Empire of Light was on HBO this evening…written and directed by Sam Mendes…who directed the Best Picture American Beauty of 1999…Empire of Light refers to a seaside Movie Theater…and a bi-polar woman, Olivia Colman, who is the Duty Manager at the theater… who has a relationship with a black man who begins working at the theater, and evenutally becomes the projectionist…he is attacked by three members of the National Front…from Wikipedia: “The National Front (NF) is a far-right, fascistpolitical party in the United Kingdom. It is currently led by Tony Martin. As a minor party, it has never had its representatives elected to the British or European Parliaments, although it gained a small number of local councillors through defections and it has had a few of its representatives elected to community councils. Founded in 1967, it reached the height of its electoral support during the mid-1970s, when it was briefly England’s fourth-largest party in terms of vote share.”…it has an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography…for Roger Deakins…it was a beautiful movie…it was a movie about movies in the background…they had the premier of Chariots of Fire at the theater, part of the plot…they played Raging Bull, among other movies of that time period…although Colman’s character, Hilary Small, has never seen an entire movie, she asks the projectionist, Toby Jones, to screen a movie of his choice for her…he shows her, solitary in the theater, Being There with Peter Sellers, Shirley McLaine, and Melvin Douglas who won a supporting Oscar…I really enjoyed Empire of Light, having no clue what it was about…it was on my list to see, but I never got to the Ambler to see it…from Wikipedia: “Empire of Light is a 2022 British romantic drama film directed, written, and co-produced by Sam Mendes. Set in an English coastal town in the early 1980s, the film is about the power of human connection during turbulent times. It stars Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Monica Dolan, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, Toby Jones, and Colin Firth.”…an array of characters work at the Empire…a love letter to movies…catch it on HBO…it’s worth it…
another thing that worth it!…the Oscar nominated short films…animation and short films…Elissa and I went to see the Animation…the five short animated films are “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud ( a lovely, sweet film with a great message, tugs at your heartstrings ), “The Flying Sailor,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby ( based on a true story of a sailor was thrown into the air after an exposition – “In 1917, two ships collided in the Halifax Harbour, causing the largest accidental explosion in history.” ), “Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano ( sort of a commentary on climate change ), “My Year of Dicks,” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon ( yes, that kind of dicks…the main character is named Pam…yeah Pam…her name is Pam…they tell you before the screening if you would be offended, there is a few minutes for you to leave the theater…they showed this last – from Wikipedia: “It’s 1991, and Pam – a stubborn, imaginative 15-year-old from the outskirts of Houston – embarks on a comedic journey of disappointment and self-discovery as she seeks the right boy to lose her virginity with so she can become the fully realized woman she’s imagined herself to be.”, it’s won a number of awards and just might win the Best Animated Short – Animation ), “An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Lachlan Pendragon ( claymation, about working as a telemarketer…an ostrich tells that worker exactly that – the world is fake…)…tomorrow I will see the Short films, Live Action with Julia and Pam…the nominated shorts are being shown at the Hiway and the Ambler…it worth it…I’ve been going to see these nominated short for years now…with Carol and Rafe…they were shown at the Ritz/now Landmark theater…another thing Covid ruined…but they’re back…and thank The Force for that…the Ambler is also showing the Short Documentaries, those nominations are “The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga, “Haulout,” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev, “How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt, “The Martha Mitchell Effect,” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison, “Stranger at the Gate,” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones…don’t know anything about these yet…
it was a good day at the Ambler…and Ambler was buzzing…we ate dinner at Bridgid’s…we shared a delicious Au Poivre Cheesesteak, came with fries and a Milar Salad…wonderful dinner…I recommend that too…
on Bill Maher, he told us about actors who hated each other making the movie…the actors put hate aside and make a movie, they do their job…he was likening it to Congress, even though they hate each other, they should work together…and get things done…Amen and Awomen to that…won’t happen though…the Republicans are too stupid and petty…
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“…a special tribute…
Art Salazar 